The Beach

David Hunt

The Beach

The long drive felt like a never-ending adventure. Instead of cool air, the air conditioner blew air from the gates of Hell. My sister and I sat in the back seat of the ever-shrinking Toyota Camry arguing and hitting each other until dad threatened us yelling, "Don't make me drive this car into a telephone pole!" Mom sat on the other side with only two jobs, control the radio and navigate us to the beach. Both were done very poorly, giving us static from the radio and forty-five minutes on a road with no name. After hours of driving, which felt like an eternity, we finally arrived at the beach.

I ran down the boardwalk, not worrying about getting splinters in my tender feet. Every ten or fifteen feet I stopped, sometimes to smell the salty sea air, but mostly to wait for my parents who plod along behind carrying chairs, coolers, and other beach paraphernalia. I yelled back to them to hurry, and they replied that I can run ahead and find a good spot. I yelp with glee and ran as fast as my little legs could carry me. I stopped where the dark, brown of the boardwalk meets the light, white of the beach. My dad warned me about how hot the sand can get. I cautiously took a step forward testing the sand. "Ouch" he was right. Again I looked out to the ocean which seems to stretch for days in all directions. I was determined to reach it, no matter what sacrifices I needed to make. I stepped forward again testing the sand, still white hot. I pulled my courage from the corners of my being and made a run for it. The sand wasn't so bad if I ran really fast. The wind blew in my face, bringing with it that smell, almost the taste of the ocean. The smell seemed to be a combination of fish, salt, people, and water all mixed into one. I continued to run until I reached the waters edge where the waves crashed upon the beach, making the white sand brown and hard. I sat down on the sand, gasping for air after my strenuous run to the water. A wave rolled up to the beach, crashing around me, wetting my hot body. I dug my body into the moistened ground, covering my legs and arms with the cool, wet sand. The water was clear and inviting, seashells covered the bottom, and rolling waves punctuated the surface. My sister and I went into the ocean, diving through the waves and swimming as quickly as we could. We rode enormous waves into the shore on our rafts and then swam back to catch more. We enjoyed ourselves for hours.

The waves were crashing. The sun was setting. People were